(Mobile Journalist) Precise, concise, authoritative, witty, factual, and out of the box entertainment and lifestyle reportage.

Wednesday, 31 July 2013

ASUU strike to end soon - FG

The Federal Government has promised that the strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities will be over soon.Making the promise on Wednesday after the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting was the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, who said government was putting its all into resolving the face-off with the university lecturers.Make told newsmen that government was not unmindful of the impact of the strike, which is entering the fourth week, on both parents and students.He said this was why the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, and the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyat Rufai, have been fully involved in the negotiations with ASUU over its demand that the government fulfils its 2009 agreement with the union.Make said Nigerians should be patient with the government while it strives to find a permanent solution to the face-off.

(read more after the cut)

He said: “The Federal Government has been far more worried than you think concerning the strike in tertiary institutions, because of the disruption of the school calendar and so government is concerned and very worried.“And since the onset of the strike, government has been negotiating with ASUU through the Ministry of Labour and Productivity and the Ministry of Education.“As at today, we know that this negotiations are going on and it is our expectation that this strike will not get more protracted and that an understanding will be reached soon enough to enable our students return back to school. “Government is very concerned every time the school calendar is disrupted, it has its cost to the nation, particularly the idle time our children spend at home can lead to a lot of social difficulties.“We don’t want school calendars to be disrupted and a lot of serious discussions have been going on and we believe we should record some progress soon enough for these schools to open and the Ministers of Labour and Education will be giving quarterly briefing on the progress of these negotiations.“So, we are appealing to our people, particularly parents and children of this nation, to bear with us, to show more understanding and we pray that this type of strike will not re-occur because the public school system suffers a lot of damage with the perennial strikes.“The universities have been relatively stable since the advent of this Administration.“The strikes that we have inherited, we have tried to resolve them and if you notice in the last two years, there has not been a lot of strikes until this unfortunate one.“And I believe we will overcome it and in the end, both parties will appreciate the need to keep the school calendar stable for the progress of our country.“So government is working hard to ensure we reach an agreement to resolve this problem so that or schools can reopen.”Meanwhile, Nigeria has been elected into the Board of Global Fund for HIV/AIDS following her successful hosting of Abuja+12 summit.Consequently, President Goodluck Jonathan will co-chair a Mini Summit on HIV/AIDs at this year’s United Nations General Assembly, alongside his South African counterpart, Jacob Zuma.